Chad Green couldn’t have picked a better way to begin the 2025 NHRA season.
Green, competing in his 70th nitro Funny Car race, snared his second Wally at the season-opening AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., on Sunday.
Green clocked a 3.921-second elapsed time at 329.18 mph to defeat three-time NHRA world champion Ron Capps, who smoked the tires early in the run and slowed to 6.500 seconds.
“This race is so special. I mean, it’s the Gatornationals,” said team owner Green, who has been competing full-time in NHRA’s nitro Funny Car class since 2022. “So many historical things have happened at this race for so many years, and my very first race down the racetrack in an official race car was here at this track. So, it means a lot to me, and I’ve always said it’s so important to start off the year, especially the first race to do good or you’re behind the eight-ball, and this just takes a cake right here. I mean, start off with No. 1 (win). That’s really awesome. I’m so excited.”
Green, who was a full-time Pro Mod racer before transitioning to Funny Car, captured his first career nitro Funny Car Wally at the 2023 In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., defeating Tim Wilkerson in the final round.
On March 9, Green’s victory march consisted of wins over Paul Lee, Buddy Hull, Matt Hagan and Capps.
“That was nerve-wracking,” getting to the staging lanes on time to face Hagan, Green said. “Let me tell you, we threw a rod out on the run before, so we had to do a complete motor swap, and it was just tight. Like when we had our second crew from next door coming over to help us, and I had to just jump in the car and go 90 mph to the water box. But when I got there, everything was calm, everything was good, I felt good, and we made a monster run” against Hagan.
Green clocked a 3.922-second lap to defeat Hagan’s 3.988.
“Something like that is just so big for our team. That was a monster run for us, a monster run for our team, and everything that we had to do to get there and that’s what you need. You just need more of this stuff happening and these guys learn from it. They grow from it, and I can’t stop,” Green said. “I’m so proud of my team. I can’t say enough about them. We started this weekend off really not in a very stellar manner. We only made one qualifying run, which wasn’t even a complete run down the track. My guys stuck with it, worked hard on this car and it just came around at the right time for us.”
Green was thankful that former multi-time world champion Hagan and his Tony Stewart Racing team waited for him.
“Well, we threw a rod out of the motor the run before, so we had to do a complete engine swap,” Green said. “We had to do a complete engine swap, time the motor, do all that stuff. So that just put us a little bit behind. I don’t know how long those guys waited for us up there, but I do want to say hats off to them – TSR, Hagan, that whole group. Hats off to them for waiting for us.”
Green qualified No. 14 with a 4.148-second elapsed time after the first two sessions on Friday. Rain cancelled Saturday’s two qualifying sessions in Gainesville.
Although this was Green’s second Funny Car Wally, it was his first with crew chiefs Dean Marinis and Joe Serena tuning his Bond-Coat Ford Mustang.
“I can’t be prouder of those two guys. I mean, they’ve been with me … Dean’s been with me forever, since back in my Pro Mod days,” Green said. “He was my Pro Mod crew chief. I talked him into coming with me to the Funny Cars. He wasn’t a Funny Car guy. He’s like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing over here. I don’t know how this is going to go.’ I was like, ‘Come on, buddy, just come stick with me.’ And he did. And this is our sixth year now, and Dean has grown so much as a crew chief for these Funny Cars.
“And Joe, he’s been with me the same ever since I’ve been driving Funny Cars. He’s been with me and been one of the key guys. They really have stepped up. I had all the faith in the world that they could do it and they just proved today. They’re champs.”
This season is different for Green in that it is the first time the Midland, Texas, racer has had a two-car team in the Funny Car ranks.
“We’re a two-car team now. I put together this second car in the offseason,” Green said. “Blake (Alexander) is going to drive it most of the time, and Hunter (Green, Chad’s son) is going to get a chance to drive it. It is just really great. It’s really great for both these teams to be a part of this. I mean, these last two rounds, we had the second team over there helping with us. So, they’re as much part of it as my team, and we’re all one team and it’s going to just help us all grow together.”
Alexander, who has four career national-event wins – two each in Top Fuel and Funny Car – qualified No. 16 after qualifying was washed out Saturday. He lost in the first round to Jack Beckman.
Green will have some time to celebrate before trying to make it two in a row at the Arizona Nationals on March 21-23 near Phoenix.
“I mean momentum, you win a race that gives you all the momentum and to start off the year winning the first race, it’s just huge. Like I said, the first race is I think one of the most important races because if you start off bad the first race, you’re behind the eight-ball. These guys, as you all know, they’re good out here, so you got to take advantage of every opportunity you got and thank goodness we were able to do that” Sunday, Green said.
